Bifolium from the Pink Qur’an. Unknown, illuminator 13th century Probably produced for a noble patron from either Granada or Valencia, this thirteenth-century Spanish manuscript of the Qur’an, the sacred text of Muslims, is known as the Pink Qur’an, due to its distinctive tinted paper. The Qur’an is a written text created to document the word of God, as orally dictated by the Archangel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad, who died in 11 After Hegira (632CE by the Gregorian Calendar). The Qur’an is divided into 30 parts, each of which is called as juz’, with over 6236 verses. The number 30 is signi

Bifolium from the Pink Qur’an. Unknown, illuminator 13th century Probably produced for a noble patron from either Granada or Valencia, this thirteenth-century Spanish manuscript of the Qur’an, the sacred text of Muslims, is known as the Pink Qur’an, due to its distinctive tinted paper. The Qur’an is a written text created to document the word of God, as orally dictated by the Archangel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad, who died in 11 After Hegira (632CE by the Gregorian Calendar). The Qur’an is divided into 30 parts, each of which is called as juz’, with over 6236 verses. The number 30 is significant in the Islamic faith since, in the Muslim Calendar, there are 30 days in each month. The Pink Qur’an is written in five lines to a folio in Maghribi, a cursive script developed in Northern Africa (the Mahgreb), Iberia (Al-Andalus), and the West African Sahel (Biled as-Sudan). Because figural imagery was prohibited in copies of the Qur’an, calligraphy and its associated organic and geometric decorative elements were considered the highest form of artistic expression for religious works in the Islamic world in the thirteenth century. The graceful script on the leaves along with the profuse decorations in brilliant gold leaf and the refined pastel sheen of the pink paper combine strikingly to explain why the Pink Qur’an is one of the most celebrated manuscripts made in Islamic Spain. The Getty’s bifolium is an artful mixture of the graceful script long associated with written Arabic, and the fine detailing executed in luminous colors and gold leaf. The decorative elements on each folio in gold with green, red, blue help direct the reader to the correct uses of both the oral and written word of the Qur’an. Since the text is contiguous, this bifolium may have been at the center of a gathering in the original manuscript, which was bound in 20 volumes. No leaves directly adjacent to the Getty bifolia have been identified in any collection, but other leaves

How we Work

Contribute

Legal

Contact Us